Columbus “whiskey rock” band Erica Blinn & the Handsome Machine will perform along with OU alumnus and Columbus singer-songwriter Brian Douglas Day.
Columbus rock ‘n’ roll band Erica Blinn & the Handsome Machine will join the Columbus singer-songwriter Brian Douglas Day at Casa Nueva Saturday.
Blinn, who has shared the stage with artists including Lynyrd Skynyrd and Devon Allman, has been touring the past two years to promote her latest studio album Lovers in The Dust.
Performing music since her childhood, Blinn said she couldn’t see herself doing anything else. Thanks to the advice of her high-school guidance counselor, she realized her potential to make a living through music.
“He basically was the one who really convinced me that music was a possibility as a career.” Blinn said. “That’s one of the things when you’re growing up, anything artistic seems to be a hobby. People go ‘That’s not what you can do for a living. What are you going to do? What are you going to go to school for?’ So I kind of feel like I wasted a lot of time and energy over that question.”
Over the past two years, Erica Blinn & the Handsome Machine have toured through over 26 states.
“I love that I can put my emotions and thoughts and feelings out into the world, and that people appreciate it.” Blinn said. “And I love touring and seeing other parts of the country. It’s amazing, honestly I feel very fortunate to do what I do."
Blinn said that having a creative outlet to portray her emotions is her method of coping.
“I think everything that I deal with comes out in a song, that maybe no one ever hears, but that’s how I get through it.” Blinn said. "I think I just think about things that way anyway.”
Day, an Ohio University alumnus, formed the band Yellow Lights Maybe with other OU students in 2006 and performed in Athens at events including Palmer and High Fests, and has since been performing as a solo one-man-band act in Columbus.
“Anytime I have to play a cover song my goal is to play it in a way that you’ve probably never heard it,” Day said.
With a cover library of over 240 songs, including T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” Day performs from all over musical spectrum along with his own songs, while singing and playing the guitar, harmonica, kick drum and tambourine.
“As (Yellow Lights Maybe) went separate ways, I had to figure out a creative way to keep playing by myself and separate myself from other guys in tow,” he said. “So I decided to learn the harmonica, then I decided to start doing stuff with my feet so I’m using the tambourine and kick drum.”
Day will be performing with a band at Casa Nueva, but performs as a one-man-band at his weekly appearances at bars throughout Columbus.
“It’s nice to have the option to do either. I certainly play more frequently by myself so I welcome the opportunity to share the stage with people again,” he said.
Day has not performed in Athens for two years, but says he is looking forward to returning to the area to perform.
“My fondest memory is recording our first CD ever down at 3 Elliott Studio,” Day said. “We packed ourselves in the studio for 10 straight hours and came out with five songs. We had no clue what we were doing but it was a good time.”
Also on his to-do list, Day said, is hitting up one of his favorite Athens spots: Big Mamma’s Burritos.
@seanthomaswolfe
